Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals face a number of challenges in today’s web economy, especially in terms of growing a presence online.

Challenges Accountants Face Online

Today, more than ever, CPAs must work harder to stand out from the crowd, source new clients, and retain current clients. Not only do they have to maintain an active presence in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also maintain a strong web presence. This includes having an effective website and learning how to better market your business online.

In addition to investing money advertising offline on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that increasingly larger amounts of their budget will need to be directed to develop and maintain a website that can drive prospects, engage users, outperform the competition in search engines and give them wider reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your web pages have to load fast, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website will change over time and some aspects will need to be updated frequently. This requires having a well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that accounting firms face online, as other businesses do for that matter, is that they have an average of 30 seconds or less to provide users with what they are searching for or they will find what they are looking for elsewhere.

“Websites have evolved into central information hubs where service information is still present but enhanced with web portals, hyperlinks to state and federal sites, and a variety of free tools.”

Michael Alter, http://www.accountingweb.com/technology/accounting-software/tips-for-improving-your-website

Opportunities For CPAs In The Web Economy

As well as facing many challenges, there are also many online opportunities available to accounting companies that are willing to evolve to meet online demands and can think strategically in terms of improving their online marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will learn about opportunities to drive more traffic and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your business online, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to power your accounting or financial services website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, see these articles:

• Learn How A Poorly Constructed Website Can Lose You Customers And What To Do About It
• Learn How To Grow Your Business Using WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

This section will show you how to improve your website and get better results online. We show you what pages you need, what type of content works best, tips for improving your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need any help with website planning, visit this page: A Cost-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Pages

Professional business websites require some basic pages. Let’s take a look at the pages your  need and how to set up your accounting or financial services website for best results.

Services And Products Description Page

You need to include a page that describes your services or products.

It will include all the services and products you offer, such as:

• Business – planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, book keeping, financing, budgeting, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate accounting
• Wealth creation
• Superannuation/retirement plan (401k) advice
• Audit risk assessment and assurance
• Quickbooks – setup, training, tune up, and support
• Specialist services – mergers, acquisitions, information technology, secretarial, rentals, trusts, fiduciary accounting, succession planning, selling businesses, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us

This page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

It should also mention any industry awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your company and position it above your competitors.

(List all of your industry awards certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc. in the About Us page. Screenshot image sourced from: deloitte.com)

Meet The Team

Are you searching for ways to sell more products online? Then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Your business needs to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team. This page should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be familiar with accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons that will allow your visitors to follow your team members on their social networks.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your team member’s expertise, how they add value or contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your staff to prospective new clients. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to create and add an updatable list of staff members in your WordPress site without coding skills, go here: Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory

Career Opportunities

List any career opportunities within the firm. It can include training, employee benefits, advancement opportunities, social aspects of working for your organization, etc. You should also include information about career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Maintain a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, subscribe to your updates list, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials And Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to show prospective clients what type of accounting solutions you are capable of implementing to help solve their problems. By adding a page with testimonials from past clients and case studies, you will also help to provide potential clients with social proof online.

(Add a page to your site with case studies and testimonials from past clients. Screenshot source: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively on using client testimonials and reviews get better results online. Go here to learn more: All You Need To Know To Get Better Results Online With More Effective Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a contact page is essential.

It should include the following:

• Business Name
• Physical address
• Telephone
• Fax
• Contact email
• Map
• Website address
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media pages
• Interactive chat

If your business services multiple areas you should make that clear when showing your address and contact info.

You can also include a few links for commonly-asked questions, main pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog is a powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms are built around a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content such as company news, company updates, educational information, informative posts, how-to videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an established accounting website, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your business.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing accounting site is hard to manage or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can become both your business website and blog.

Very few people know that WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic machine that will begin driving targeted traffic to your website, simply by adding regular content to your web site.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

For more details, go here: Website Traffic Blueprint – How To Create An Automated Traffic-Getting Machine With WordPress

Legal Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is really important, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking local, regional or federal laws and regulations wherever you provide services to.

Depending on the products and services you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your accounting or financial services website will help you stay out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Financial/Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website. Go here to learn more about this: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

How To Improve Your Content

In today’s globally competitive economy, the sooner you begin engaging in the practice of content marketing, the quicker you will begin to differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

Providing great content with information and tips will get your visitors to share your content and come back for more. This is a great way to educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business can include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your prospective clients understand your accounting or financial services, such as forensic accounting, small business accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing debt, understanding financial concepts, etc.

Remember to use specific keywords in your content that your prospective clients would search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Tips For Improving User Experience

Improving user experience (generally referred to as UX) will help keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you different ways to improve visitor engagement and UX.

Add RSS Feeds

RSS feeds provide many benefits for your accounting business.

If you provide valuable information, other sites may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your content updates are in one place
• Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• A feed provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides various ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to adding syndicated content to your site from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

To find RSS feeds with useful content just search online for relevant government departments or well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed some feeds you could consider adding to your accounting website:

• Taxation Policy Center: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/press/rss.cfm
• Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/RSS-news-feeds.aspx
• Canada Revenue Agency: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/rssfeeds/
• UK HM Revenue and Customs: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rss/rss.htm
• South Africa Revenue Service: http://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/RSS-Feeds.aspx

(Use RSS feeds to provide your visitors with a better user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your readers. Checklists and forms can give them useful step-by-step instructions and resources to perform tasks. Forms and checklists are great planning tools.

You can provide a range of forms and checklists covering topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Partnership Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Add Unique Tools

Providing unique online tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are popular tools for accounting websites. Other tools can include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In part two, we discuss a several online tools you can add to your accounting site using WordPress plugins that can improve your seo, improve user engagement and generate more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section one.

To view Part 2, click this link:

• Online Business Tips For Accountants – How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Traffic With Plugins

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